Cuts to transit service & shelter cleaning leaves huge question for the future of public transit in Winnipeg

November 13, 2019

Functional Transit Winnipeg is shocked by the proposed cuts to service announced today in Winnipeg Transit’s budget presentation. These proposed cuts are a direct result of the 2% mandate placed by the Mayor and EPC.

City officials released the list of the proposed cuts to our city’s transit service that would: end evening service over an hour earlier, at 12:15am; end peak hour service at 5:45pm; eliminate the free Downtown Spirit bus; eliminate the DART service; reduced shelter cleaning; reduce interior bus cleaning; along with a list of other transit initiatives.

“Service running later into the evenings is necessary to support shift workers and help individuals get home safely,” said Derek Koop, President of Functional Transit Winnipeg. “This is a clear step backward for riders and for our city and leaves us wondering what the future of transit looks like in Winnipeg.”

Transit has repeatedly come up as one of the top priorities in the city’s own budget consultations. Cuts to transit service and other key service and infrastructure elements should leave Winnipeggers outraged.

“We go to city hall every year to fight for better service and despite calls from Winnipeggers for better service, we’re stuck fighting to just keep the service we have” said Derek Koop. “It’s simply unacceptable.”

Winnipeg Transit released their Transit Master Plan this year which implied the city was intending on improving service. The budget numbers released today leave hopes for transit improvement very uncertain

Transit budget presentation suggests cutting basics